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Clothed in Compassion

We say that God is compassionate, but what does that mean for us? Listen as Pastor Alan talks about God's compassion for us and how it not only helps us but also encourages us to care for others.

Scripture Reading

2 Corinthians 3:1-4; Colossians 3:12-13

Find Pastor Wayne's series, Seeing Jesus, in the church app.

About Springhouse

If you’re looking for a church in Smyrna, TN that is focused on Loving Big, Living Truth, and Healthy Family, we’d love to connect with you. We are home to a vibrant children’s ministry, powerful middle school and youth ministries, and incredible ministries for men and women of all ages. Our local and global outreaches include partnerships with missionaries in the US and abroad, Isaiah 117 House, local retirement communities, and more. 

Additionally, we are home to Springhouse Theatre, an award-winning theatre in the Nashville area. Through the theatre, we serve both the greater Nashville theatre community, and thousands of patrons each year, and we are expanding our vision to impact the culture through the arts into additional mediums and through an expanding network of relationships.

We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

Additional Resources

Gathering Times

  • Sundays, 9:00 AM
  • Sundays, 10:30 AM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

CCLI License 2070006

Transcript
Alan Smith:

**AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPTION** Good morning, Springhouse. Good morning, those that watch online. It's good

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to have you with us. Michael, if you'll just stay right there for a little

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bit. Did this in the 1st gathering. Why does he always cry?

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Anybody

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going through anything? Anybody been sick lately? Anything

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weighing heavy on your minds? Work

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situations, relationships? I know just today, I've

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heard that there's gonna be somebody that has to have a hip replacement. I've heard

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that somebody is, sitting in the hospital.

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In fact, I went and saw them. They're in ICU room

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12 with ketoacidosis, something along

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that line. I just know that there is stuff

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there is stuff going on in people's lives.

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But aren't we glad that we have a father?

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Aren't we glad that we have a savior that is touched by our

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infirmities? And he knows what it is that we go

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through, and he's moved with compassion toward us. And he seeks compassion toward us.

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And he seeks to answer our prayers. I

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got turned on to Oswald Chambers about 16 years ago, and I've

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I

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read

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But I read something again February of this

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year at the beginning, and it's been hounding me for the last

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10 days, and I just wanna share that with you.

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Because sometimes, I don't know about you, but when I pray, I start asking

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God for answers. And

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that's not the key to prayer. Whenever the

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insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off track.

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This is February 7th. The meaning of prayer is

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that we get hold of God, not the

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answer. Because here's the deal. Too many

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times we seek the answer versus the giver of the answer.

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He knows what's best for us. He knows the

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timing that it needs to take place. He knows the way and the method it

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needs to take place. But the most important thing is

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not the answer we seek is the giver. We

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get 2 let me rephrase that. Maybe y'all got this down.

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I get too caught up looking for his hand

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than his face. When the

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the answer is this, if I'll seek his face,

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I'll receive the rest of it because then he's gonna freely give. So if

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that's you this morning and you're in something, I don't

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know what it is, but if you're in something, will you just yield?

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Will you yield this morning? Raise your hands. Father God,

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we come to you because you are a good

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God. And we don't understand the depth of the meaning of that word good,

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but you are a good God. And your

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word says you watch over it to perform it in

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our lives, lord. So today, God, we come

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broken. We come in despair. We come hopeless. We come

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tainted and tattered and torn and dirty and filthy in our

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righteousness, God. But we seek your face.

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Give us the spirit of Mary that we would sit at your feet,

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God, and not look for

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your hands, but we'd look for your presence

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because in your presence is a fullness of joy.

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God, and when we draw close to you, you draw close to us, and

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you buoy us up, and you hold us up in your right hand, God.

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Hear the cry of your people today. In Jesus'

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name. Amen. Amen.

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Today's gonna be a little different.

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So much that I don't have a lot to pray. But yesterday, the bikers I

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work with had a chili cook off. And it's bad when the

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pastor is the Ghost one at the bar, isn't it? I beat all the bikers

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to the bar yesterday. I was the 1st one in the well, not the Ghost

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one, the bartender and her helper. But I was the Ghost one. I'm knocking on

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the door. It was locked. And I said, hey. Where's everybody at? So I beat

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them to the bar. I had 9 shots of chili,

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little 2 ounce cups of chili because we

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had 8 different pots. You know what? A cup of chill

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or a a shot of chili is okay, but when you got 8 different ones,

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some of them were Ghost, And some of them were not,

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but they were they were chilly.

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And then you could buy a flight. You could buy 4 bowls for

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$10. And so I had 4 bowls of chili,

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4 cans of diet dew because I've thank God I've changed from

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sun drop to diet dew. There's 0 calories in dew. So I got them to

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make that conversion for me. But then like a

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dummy, I said, hey. Bring me some of them creakle cut fries, and

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I'll make chili cheese fries. And I thought it was gonna

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hit me last night, but it hadn't hit yet. So be warned today.

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For the person that told me this morning that I'm channeling my inner Patrick

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Mahomes with my, thing because he I'm

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no. And for the person that was older, and this

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is for people 50 and older, it said I look like Robert Tilton because

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of my haircut. Honey, I need a haircut, Wednesday. I want it spiky again.

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If you're from the old generation, name it, claim it, and the televangelist.

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Somebody said I had a Robert Tilton haircut, so I don't know

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about that. 2 quick things. We had

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we've got 37 people signed up to go to Mexico.

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If you are praying about this, you need to see

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me ASAP because I'm gonna have to cut it off at 50. So,

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wow, Alvin. You're gonna have to cut a missions trip to 50. Who knew? But

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God has put the people. So if you're interested, see me soon. And

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then next Sunday, we'll talk about, Ghost responders. So that's right

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after service. If you hadn't registered, come on anyway, and we'll talk about

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that. So all that being done, hallelujah.

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Oh, we'll still get out of here by 12:40 or 11:45.

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I'm not making a promise. If you would, let's stand and read the

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word today. Hey. They fixed me. Thank you.

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As pastor Kevin and miss Vonda says with gusto.

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Alright. Praise be to the God and father of our

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lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion

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and the God of all comfort who comforts us

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in all our troubles so that we can comfort

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those in any trouble with the comfort we

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ourselves receive from God. In Colossians,

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therefore, as God's chosen people,

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holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves

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with compassion, kindness, humility,

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gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other

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and forgive one another if any of you has a

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grievance against someone. Forgive as the lord

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forgave you. Father, thank you that you are

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the God of compassion. And, lord, once more,

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your son modeled that out for us. So today, lord, we ask you

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to pour into our spirit. Let your word remain. Let my

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foolishness go away. And, lord, teach us your

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ways today in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated.

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So So if you're looking for slides today, that was your 2. That's all you

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get today. No clicker. Boy, I'm not don't tell

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pastor Kevin. Don't tell pastor Ronnie. But boy, I feel so liberated. Y'all

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better watch out. I don't have to worry about half of my time whenever I

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get to speak. I'm worried about it in my click, and y'all ain't gotta worry

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about that today. Now you just gotta worry about if I can scroll and read.

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Help him, lord. Listen.

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We serve a God who is full of compassion. From

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the very beginning with Adam and Eve when they fell prey to sin in the

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garden, to the Hebrew children who were captive in Egypt. And

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God it says the word said he heard their cries and was

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moved. And he brought a deliverer through Moses all the way to

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Jesus hanging on the cross and bearing the sin of humanity,

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though he was blameless and perfect because of

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the compassion and the obedience he had to his father. All through

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scripture, we see the compassion of God bleeding

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through. Now

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listen. That being said, we all should

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know that God compassion, like

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his grace, is something we can't earn.

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It's it's something that he chooses to give to

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us. And if that's the case, Alan, in your filthiness,

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when you receive the compassion of God, it should

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be easy for me to be able to give compassion

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to somebody else. No matter what it is, it should be.

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But yet, somehow I seem to put

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conditions and qualifications and

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requirements on the amount of compassion that I give to somebody.

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It's easy to be compassionate toward Renee.

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35 years this May. Hallelujah. She's put up

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with me. God bless her.

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Pray, it's easy to give compassion to my

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children because I love my kiddos. 30 and

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25. I love my kids. It's easy to be compassionate with them.

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I'll be honest with you. It's pretty easy to be compassionate with most of you.

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That was supposed to be a laughter. In my notes, I've

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got a bracket. Maybe they'll laugh. So we'll no. I'm

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kidding. He's preaching. He's

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talking. But there are so many times

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where I will put a distinction or a

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qualification on whether I truly am compassionate

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to somebody. See, in in this, pastor Barbee

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gave me a great word between services, and I wanna share it now before I

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lose it. There is a difference between sympathy,

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empathy, and compassion. And the

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difference is this, I can empathize with

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somebody in a time of sorrow or struggle. I can be

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sympathetic towards somebody in a a a difficult

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situation. But compassion requires

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an action on my part. Yes.

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Empathy is a feeling. Sympathy is a thought.

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But genuine compassion requires

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an action on my part. And we see all through scripture

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lord, I don't know. Boy, help me stay with notes somehow. We see

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all through scripture that God the

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father when moved with compassion created a reaction.

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The word or phrase compassion happens 43 times in

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scripture. 22 in the Old Testament, 21 in the New.

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Specifically that phrase. But there are near I got exhausted trying

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to look them all up of phrases like feels

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like, or moved with, or stirred within. There are so

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many passages littered throughout the scriptures of God the

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father and Jesus Christ and others, his

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disciples, reflecting that compassion.

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Now here's the thing. We

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say we words are tricky, aren't they? I remember how many years

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ago, Justin? 5, 6 years ago he preached about words are

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hard. We just use so many words in our

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vocabulary. Sometimes we really forget

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the true meaning or the depth that's contained in a word. So

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I had to look up the word compassion because Allen thought with his big 12th

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grade education that he knew what it meant.

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And I wanna jump back to some scripture.

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The Hebrew word that is most often

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connected with the word we translate as compassion,

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It it it comes from a derivative of root word that means

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and we'll read it to you so I get it right. A word related

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to a mother's womb. Suggesting the depth

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of God's compassion for us is likened

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to a mother's care for her child within a

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womb. Now I've never given birth. I went like I'm

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about 7 months prayer. But but I've never gone through that process.

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But I've watched my wife and I've seen other women that have. And

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here's what I know. There is something

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about that life within that womb for that mother.

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That there is just a connection on such a deep

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guttural level. And when that that life is growing within

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that womb, and they start to feel that baby move. And when

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they're speaking and that baby responds within that womb,

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there is such a depth in connection to that

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child that that mother has. That when that

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child is born, no matter how excruciating, no matter how

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painful childbirth may be, when that child is put

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in that mother's arm and she puts it to the bosom.

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That mother would fight through heaven and hell to protect that child

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from any pain or injury that it could ever she would do

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anything she could to take away any pain or suffering that child

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may ever endure. That is

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what compassion is from the father God. That is how he

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feels about humanity. And there are so many Holy testament

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scriptures that bear that witness. Let me give you just a few.

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The psalmist have several. Psalm

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103 is a father has compassion on his children. So the

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Lord has compassion on those who revere him. Psalm

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86. But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,

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slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Isaiah

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3018. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious. He

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yearns. He earnestly desires to be gracious to you.

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Therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For

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the lord is a God of justice, and blessed are those

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who wait for him. Too many times, we don't have the patience

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to wait on God in our situation to allow

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him to come through with his compassion.

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Nehemiah 9. I'm I'm not

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real edumacated with grammar. The word before

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is an adverb or an adjective, whatever it describes something.

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It says, have mercy on me, oh God, according to your unfailing love,

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according to your great we just read right through that pray compassion.

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Do you know what that word great means right there?

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According to your huge, ample, elaborate,

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remarkable, grand, superior. That kind of

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passion, God the father has for us,

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that he would blot out our iniquities. Lamentations,

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we don't like to spend time there, but there is such a great

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person there. Lamentations 322 says, because

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of the lord's great, use all those definitions, love,

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we're not consumed for his compassions never

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fail. Never fail. God's

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compassions never lose strength. They never fall short. They never

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fade away. They never stop functioning. They never become

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deficient or disappoint in our

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expectation.

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Hell you've lived through. It don't matter what life you're in. It It don't matter

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what hell you've lived through. It don't matter what life you're in. It don't matter

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what hardship you're going through. When you rise up in the morning, God

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compassion is there waiting for you.

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New every morning. I don't know I don't know about you, but I've

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used up my grace

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and compassion with some people in this life.

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I've burnt bridges. And that

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ran out in those relationships but God's compassion

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never fail. They'll never fail.

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Well, those are old testament, preacher. What about the new

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testament? What about Jesus? What about

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Jesus? Hebrews 1.

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Long ago, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and

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in different ways. In these last days, he has

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spoken to us by his son, whom he has

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appointed heir of all things, and through him, he made the

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universe. He, Jesus, is the radiance of God's

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glory, the exact expression

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of his nature, And he sustains all

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things by his powerful word. John

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recounts the, occurrence with the disciples, and he's telling

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them that that he and the father are 1. Those who see the father see

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me. And Philip says, when have we seen the father?

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And Jesus says, have I been with you not long enough?

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When you see me, you've seen the father. For the

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father is in me and I am in him. We are

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one. Which means that Jesus carried

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out in the flesh the exact compassion that God

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the father carried out through the old history scriptures. He was the

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physical. What and listen, if God if

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God never sent him, his compassion as a

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godly father in heaven is enough. But he cared

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about us enough that he sent his son that we might

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touch him. That he could touch us in our

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infirmities. To know what it's like to be human on this

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earth. And in that part of Christ manifest

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in our life, his compassion

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is so deep. And it cuts to the quick.

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There's so many passages in the New Testament. I put a few of them together.

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Come on, Spirit. Here we go.

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Before I go there, I wanna tell you this. We were talking about the word.

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The Holy Testament word, the New Testament word in the Greek is too

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many letters, has a g h, a k, and an I and all those, so

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I'm not even gonna try. But here's what it

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means. It means a stirring of the inward

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parts. Usually, literally, the twisting of the

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intestines. Have you ever encountered somebody or been in a situation

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that it just gripped you inside, almost doubled you

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over because you felt the anguish of their

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their pain, the the situation they were in. That's the

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Greek word for compassion. So that changes the

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whole outlook when we start thinking about we read

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so many times we just read through, and I challenge you. Listen. The 5 for

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5, I'm doing it with you. But sometimes we read it just to check it

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off and mark the little box and put the date by. Hey. Don't just do

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it for that. Read it. Take time and read it

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again, and look at words and understand words

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preparing for this when I have studied and read the word compassion, now

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that I understand that that depth of it from the father

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like a mother has for her child in the womb, in the inward

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twisting of the intestines, in that guttural thing. It's giving me a

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whole different look. Jesus said in Matthew 9 and Mark 6, it

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says, Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages teaching in their

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synagogues, proclaiming the gospel to the kingdom, and

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healing every disease and affliction. When

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he saw the crowds, he had compassion

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because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

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Matthew 15 in Mark 8 says, Jesus called the disciples to him. I have

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compassion on the crowd because they've been with me now 3 days and have

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nothing to eat. And I'm unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they

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faint on the way. He cares about our physical needs.

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The healing of the 2 blind men, they were sitting out, son of David have

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mercy on us. And everybody said, shut up. Leave the

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rabbi alone. And they cried out even louder, have mercy.

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And it said, Jesus looked at them with compassion

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and he healed them. And immediately they began to

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see the leper.

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Spirit what will I do for you? And he said, if you will, you

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can make me clean. And Jesus was moved

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with compassion. And he didn't just speak

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it. He touched him. He

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made him clean. Sometimes we just need

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to feel him touch us. And you know what? That's hard to do

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now because he is now seated at the right hand of the

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father. So do you know how he touches us now?

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With us. With each other. We

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are now the hands and feet of Christ. We are the ones that are called

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to be moved with that guttural deep level of

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compassion that requires an action on our part. And

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then when we are moved like Christ was moved

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and we church somebody, I'm praying for you, man. I

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know it's hard. I'm praying for you, sister. I know

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it's difficult to grieve the loss of a loved one. When we

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do that action, we become

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the hands and feet of Christ's compassion

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in this world. 2 of my

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favorites

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the stories of his compassion.

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Many of us know this story. It's John 11. Pastor

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Jonathan did amazing teaching in the 12 of couple of weeks

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ago. So if you have the capacity, go look it up online and watch it.

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Because he prayer some things that I I've seen it twice now. Once in

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person and 2 in my office. But he prayer something that I really didn't

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think about. And he was talking about when he's talking about Jesus was

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coming and they were traveling back Ghost, technically, there's 2 different Bethanies in

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the Bible. And so he was coming to where and

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he said, Mary and Martha and

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Lazarus lived. And he named the place and he names

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names because Jesus was making a connection

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that this is not just somebody. He knew

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them. He had relationship. They were important to

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him in life. And so he was moved. And

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we think, well, he waited and he delayed 2 days. And then by the time

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he gets there, he's dead. Why didn't he move quicker? Because his

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ways are not our ways. His thoughts and ideas are

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higher than ours. And there was a purpose because when he

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came, not only was he gonna raise Lazarus back in life,

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but it was that he might glorify the father.

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And those that would see would recognize.

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Sometimes we go through things in our life

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that is not about us. I sat in an ICU room for

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14 days 2 years ago, and I am certain in my mind

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it had nothing to do with me. But it was so that I could minister

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to 23 different nurses, doctors, and technicians in that 14

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days to show them the love of God while I was laid up in that

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bed. It was because there were countless numbers of you that were

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praying for me that maybe Ghost stirred your faith to reach

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out on somebody else's behalf.

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And all that was that God would be glorified through it.

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So we see Jesus. He shows up. And Martha comes

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running in tears. And it says there were Jews around and they were

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crying. And then we get these words that says, Jesus

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was moved in his spirit and

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groaned. The

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grief and the compassion of God. And then we

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know, spoilers, pastor Jonathan said, you raised him from the

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dead. And then there's another

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story that I love in Luke 7. I've heard it before as a child, and

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I've heard it taught different times. But it says, Jesus, see it

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if you will. Forget these comfy chairs in the air

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condition. We're in Jerusalem

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and we're walking with the master and the disciples and

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the people that are walking around him. And Jesus

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sees a funeral possession. It made me

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think about Alice Taber this

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week. I was ready to went home to be with the Lord this past

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sun Saturday, Sunday morning.

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It says that after he was on his way to a town called

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Nain, his disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him.

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And just as he neared the gate of the town, a

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dead man was being carried out. You know what I love

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about the state of Tennessee? That when we see

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funerals, we pull over.

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And you know, I know I get in my flesh and it makes me so

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upset when I see people pass by.

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Listen, I've been on the way to somewhere, and

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I've been late because of it. But I pull over

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and I put my lights on and I sit there because

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somebody in a hearse, somebody in the car behind the hearse,

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and people in those numerous cars behind it are

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grieving the loss of a mother, a father, a son, a a

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loved one, a coworker. And for just

Alan Smith:

that moment, as simple as pulling over and put my lights on,

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it renders an action of concern.

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I've been in those lines and seen the

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cars pulled over and I felt, man.

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So imagine Jesus is walking through the crowd, and they're he's

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going, hey. If you've tried to leave a ballgame somewhere and there's thousands of

Alan Smith:

people, if you're trying to go that way and the crowd's going this way, you're

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just gonna walk all the way around till you get over there because you're not

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gonna get through that crowd. And Jesus was moving

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with that throng of people, and it says he saw

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the dead man's funeral. He saw the woman.

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Sometimes we have to just

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stop and look.

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Sometimes we just got to be able to see

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what's right in front of us.

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And she was a widow.

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A large crowd from the city was also with her. And when

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the lord saw her, he had compassion.

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Sometimes I see the need,

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but I stop there. And I

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fail to be moved

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with compassion. See,

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the difference is that's Alan. But if I

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yield myself to the Holy Spirit, Jesus says it's expedient that I should go because

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I'm gonna send 1 just like me, and he will teach you in all things.

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He will comfort and guide you in all

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truth. And most of the time, he doesn't use a

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bullhorn. It's the whisper.

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It's that tug. It's that,

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and he wants to see if you'll be obedient. He wants to see,

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I know you see it. Will you now

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do it? And it says Jesus saw

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her. And then it says he was moved

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with compassion. And he said, don't cry.

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Then he come up and touched the open coffin. The pallbearer

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stopped and he said, young man, I tell you get up.

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And he rose and began to speak and Jesus

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gave him to his mother. Can you see it?

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A widow with no husband to provide. Her

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only it didn't say her son. There's

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a reason it said only son. He was

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her only source of provision. Her only source of

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protection, her only source. And

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now she's with nothing. And Jesus was

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moved with compassion and he gave her back

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life. What is it you need him to

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give you life in today? Is it a relationship?

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Is it a mental state? What is it that you feel is gone

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and I have nothing left? That you need

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him or somebody

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used by him to give you that life

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back.

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Just as Jesus set for us an example when he washed

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the disciples' feet, his immeasurable compassion

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displayed throughout his season of ministry on earth has left for

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us as an example, not just to one

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another within the kingdom,

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but also to those that yet believe. If you come

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on midweek, pastor Wayne's been

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doing a series about seeing Jesus the last 6 weeks. In a

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couple of weeks ago, when he wrapped it up again with the the one this

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Thursday, he used the scripture in 2nd Corinthians 5, and it said that God

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himself, through Christ Jesus,

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was reconciling us. And Wayne asked the question, who

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is us? The answer is not us.

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The answer is humanity. All us.

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Said God was reconciling to himself through Ghost,

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us while we were still in sin, not counting

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our transgressions against us. In other words, he

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didn't quantify, qualify, or place requirements

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on it. He did it for all of

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humanity. And then it says that we have been given the

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ministry of reconciliation, which means we are to go do the same

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thing. It's pretty easy.

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That's a oxymoronic statement. To

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be compassionate to somebody in this room.

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We're almost 400 between the 2 services and all the children.

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And I apologize if you've been coming 6, 8, 10 months, 2 years,

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and I can't get your name right. I I but I see your face.

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And it's pretty easy to go, yeah. I'm gonna help you. Or I see you're

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in need or you're moved in something and I've come to try to help

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you. But he's not just talking about taking care

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of us, us ins.

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We have to be compassionate to those

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who don't speak like us, who don't look like us, who

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don't smell like us, who don't dress like us, who don't act

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like us. Let me tell you something. A sinner's gonna act like a

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sinner, but we're still called to love and minister

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to them. And if they find themselves in a

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place that is deserving I'm sorry. That's the

Alan Smith:

wrong word. None of us deserve compassion. If they

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find themselves in a place of needing

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compassion, it is our responsibility

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to be those hands and feet and see them

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and be moved to meet their

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need and compassion. And sometimes, it's as

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simple as just sitting with a grieving widow.

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Sometimes it's as simple as hugging that

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lonely person.

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It'd be amazing what small acts of

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compassion can do. I wanna read something to you that came from one of our

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brothers in the men's ministry. We have 3 or

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4 different threads in our pursuit minutes

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page. One's a prayer thread. One's a help needed page, And then

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one's just a thing where we try to encourage each other. And I think it

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was maybe Wednesday or Thursday of this week, this maybe Thursday,

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This brother posted this. He said, I was walking from one area of the gym

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to another yesterday, not really paying attention when I noticed a little bit

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of water on the floor. Then about 2 feet in front of it,

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there was more. In another kip couple of feet, there was more water.

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I looked up and I saw a woman carrying a water bottle by her sit

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side, but the lid wasn't screwed on tight. And the angle at which she was

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holding it caused water to pour out every few feet.

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This had gone on for about a stretch of maybe

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50 feet or so. So I called up to her and I told her, I

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said, you're you're spilling water

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in in your drink, and I just didn't want you to be thirsty

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because you ran out of water.

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Now he could've said, hey. Hey. You're

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making a mess. You're spilling water all through here, and I

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almost tripped on that. I almost slipped. Clean up your

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stuff. He could've.

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Sometimes we do,

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but that wasn't his heart posture.

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His heart posture was I didn't want you to be out of theater.

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I didn't want you to be thirsty. And it says she looked at

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him. She looked embarrassed, but said thank you, and

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that she'd clean it up. I almost went right back to my

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workout, but instead you ever had one of those?

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I was going to and then

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I went and grabbed some paper towels and started walking

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the water from the opposite end of the trail.

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And when we met in the middle, she looked as if she was

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about to cry. She said thank you

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because I'm not used to people helping me.

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And I could see the genuine gratitude in her eyes.

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I'd never seen her before, but I told her if she ever is in need

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and sees me here, she can come ask.

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You see, even the smallest acts of kindness can have the biggest impact on

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people. It cost me less than 5 minutes,

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but I can imagine that she thought about it for much longer. I

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bet she did too. And you know why

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I know she did? Because she said when she looked at him, I'm not used

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to people helping me. 5

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minutes of wiping up water on it. I don't know the woman's

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spiritual state. Maybe she's a believer. Maybe she's

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not. But I believe that brother in that 5

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minutes of extending his kindness because he

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was moved by compassion to help her

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Could be seeds that Ghost an eternity for her. Maybe she's

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a believer and she's wandered because she's felt deserted or left

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alone. And this act restored

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her hope that God has not forgotten me. Maybe

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she's an unbeliever and can't believe anybody would take their

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time out. And he listen. It's easy to point out people's

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mess ups. Guess what? Most of the

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time we know we're messing up, but

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sometimes we don't. But how

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much better is it when we negate the error

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in the pointing out of the thing rather than getting in the ditch and helping

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and minister onto them.

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The smallest acts of kindness can have the

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biggest impact on people. It Ghost me less than 5 minutes.

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Then he writes, lend a hand. Be the change.

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Be like Jesus.

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Don't worry about what others think. Praise and worship team, you can come

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out. Don't worry about the snickers or the stairs

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because we all need help

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at times. So help someone when you

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can.

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John says this in first John.

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This is how we know what love is.

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Jesus Christ laid down his life for us,

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and we ought to lay down our lives for our

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brothers and sisters. If anyone

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has the material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need,

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but is not moved with compassion for them,

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how can the love of God be in that person?

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Dear children, let us not love with

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words or speech, but

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with actions and in truth.

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I can say all pray,

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and I can preach and proclaim it all I want

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to with my mouth. But until my

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life reflects through my

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actions, my words are useless.

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You ever been told something by body? And you know,

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you know you know, they ain't gonna

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do it. They

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have every intention. They mean

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well. But you know,

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soon as it comes out it falls to the ground. Coach, you know.

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But have you met people also? That they never

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say a thing? But when you need them,

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when you're in that grind, you're in that hard place,

Alan Smith:

you know they're coming. You know they're praying.

Alan Smith:

You know that whatever you need, they're gonna do.

Alan Smith:

Because their actions speak louder than their

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words. I wanna be a person

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that my words

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reflect my actions.

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I want my life to be one that's consistent.

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So if I say, you know I will.

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And listen, I'm gonna blow it. I'm gonna miss it. You

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are too, so don't point at me. But God,

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that my heart would be so attuned

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to his spirit that when I hear him

Alan Smith:

whisper, if I say, then I will

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do. And I think that's what he's called us

Alan Smith:

as believers to be. Because there's a world out

Alan Smith:

there, Spirit earlier, sinners gonna

Alan Smith:

sin. And they already have a misconception

Alan Smith:

about the genuine body of Christ.

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But oh, that we would be a people

Alan Smith:

that genuinely lived a life

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of grace, and mercy, and compassion

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with no restraint, with no qualifications

Alan Smith:

that they could taste and see that the lord is good. For

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those that are gonna pray with people, if you'd come down.

Alan Smith:

Maybe you're here this morning and you're on one side of the

Alan Smith:

coin or the other. Pastor, I'm in a difficult place.

Alan Smith:

Brother, I'm in a place of grief, mental

Alan Smith:

anguish. I've got sickness. I've got things in my life. And I

Alan Smith:

just need to sense the lord's compassion in my life again.

Alan Smith:

There are people here that will pray with you.

Alan Smith:

Maybe you're on the other side of that. Lord, I blow

Alan Smith:

it. I blow it more than I get it right. And I need your Holy

Alan Smith:

Spirit to help me to hear your

Alan Smith:

voice so that I can move with compassion

Alan Smith:

when you speak. There are people that are here pray with you for that

Alan Smith:

too. So would you stand and let's worship? And if that's you,

Alan Smith:

come spend some time down here with

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